Ink feed mechanism



4 Sheets-Sheet 1 July 4, 1961 R. E. LINDEMANN INK FEED MECHANISM FiledDec. 22, 1958 IN VEN TOR. R0861? r5. L INDEMA NN 5 4 ArroezvEys July 4,1961 R. E. LINDEMANN INK FEED MECHANISM 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 22,1958 INVEN TOR. xsoemrfl/weMA/wv fiahm July 4, 1961 R. E. LINDEMANN2,990,770

INK FEED MECHANISM Filed Dec. 22, 1958 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 IN VEN TOR.ROBERT E. L INOEMflN/Y Arron/v5 vs July 4, 1961 R; E. LINDEMANN INK FEEDMECHANISM 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Dec. 22, 1958 I N KER co NTRO LSINVENTOR. fioseprf-l/Na'MAfi v WM Arr-o RNE ya fie. 6

United States Patent 2,990,770 INK FEED MECHANISM Robert E. Lindemann,Medina, Ohio, assignor to Harris- Intertype Corporation, Cleveland,Ohio, a corporation of Delaware Filed Dec. 22, 1958, Ser. No. 782,094 11Claims. (Cl. 101-364) improvements in the feeding of ink to a printingpress. Usually the inking mechanism includes a fountain roll that isrotatable in a bath of ink, and a ductor roll which swings back andforth from a position in contactwith the fountain roll to a position incontact with a driven roller forming part of the printing press, wherebyink in desirable amounts is deposited upon the last named roll. Thepresent invention has to do with the operation of the fountain roll.That roll turns forward a small increment at a time, that is its drivingmechanism may be said to oscillate, imparting driving motion to thefountain roll in one direction only, its movement in the oppositedirectionbeing an idling movement.

Ink fountain rolls of this general type are normally intermittentlydriven by a pawl and ratchet. The ratchet is fastened to the roll andthe pawl is moved through a fixed angle during every other revolution ofthe press. A masking means is interposed between the pawl and theratchet teeth for the purpose of varying the extent of movement of theroll for each oscillation of the pawl. The masking means is arcuatelyadjustable about the axis of the fountain roll, and the extent ofadjustment of the mask may be great enough so that the pawl is preventedfrom engaging any of the ratchet teeth whatsoever during oscillation.When so adjusted the fountain roll will remain stationary.

There are two main difficulties with the pawl and ratchet type of drivefor a fountain roll. The first is that the extent of adjustment islimited by the angle between the teeth of the ratchet and therefore thedrive is not infinitely adjustable. The second objection is that thepawl and ratchet type of drive is not suitable for high speed machineswhere the impact of the pawl against a tooth may be severe upon contactsince the pawl is moving at the time of engagement. Both of thesedisadvantages can be overcome by using an overrunning clutch of theindexing type connected to a variable stroke drive, instead of using afixed stroke drive and its cooperating means for masking out a portionof the drive as is customary with the pawl and ratchet type ofmechanism. The indexing clutch permits an infinite adjustment of thedrive mechanism, and also enables driving of an ink fountain roll athigh speeds without breakage or wear of parts due to impact.

With a pawl and ratchet it is a simple matter to move the mask to aposition to prevent rotation of the fountain roll. This is not possiblewith an indexing clutch however, because the parts are enclosed. It wastherefore necessary to provide another form of means for disconnectingthe fountain roll from the drive during operation of the drive. It wasalso desirable to have a drive which was simple in construction, easyand cheap to manufacture, and easy to operate. These objectives I haveattained by taking the adjusting mechanism for the drive and bodilymoving it rapidly to a position corresponding to an adjustment positionwhich would give no rotation of the roll when the drive was inoperation. By so doing, the adjustment itself is moved but notdestroyed, and can be restored.

While the present invention was designed primarily to enable use of anoverrunning clutch, its simplicity makes it desirable also for use witha pawl and ratchet type mechanism which does not have a masking member.

This invention relates to ice The pawl of such a device would back overthe ratchet teeth on the return stroke and drop into the last toothprior to being driven forward the next time. This in itself would be anadvantage over present pawl and ratchet drives using a mask, because thepawl would always engage before it started forward, and not during theforward movement as in the case where a pawl drops off its mask at highspeed.

One of the objects of the invention is to enable a press operator toprevent actuation of the fountain roll whenever the press is runningwith the fountain blade in operative position, but without ink in thefountain. Under such conditions the blade can wear against the rotatingroll, and either the roll or the blade may be scored to such an extentthat the future accuracy of metering may be seriously impaired.

Another object is to provide means for disconnecting an ink fountaindrive when using an infinitely variable indexing clutch.

A further object is the provision of means for bodily moving theadjusting means to rapidly disconnect the fountain roll drive while theprinting press is running.

Another object is to provide a novel worm and worm wheel rotaryadjustment for an ink fountain roll drive, wherein the worm is mountedin such a way as to be axially movable to cooperate rapidly with theworm wheel in the manner of a rack and pinion.

Still another object is to provide a linkage drive with adjusting meansand rapid throwoif of the adjustment, the linkage being arranged so thatthe resultant forces exerted thereby will urge the adjusting means inthe direction of throwoif.

Other objects and features of novelty will appear as I proceed with thedescription of that embodiment of the invention which, for the purposesof the present application, I have illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, wherein- FIG. 1 is a side elevation of the intermittentdriving means for the fountain roll, with latch means for holding themechanism in adjusted position, the latch means and drive means beingcapable of rapid actuation to disconnect the driving mechanism from theoverrunning clutch;

FIG. 2 is an elevational side view with the parts in zero position, thatis to say the position in which no actuation is imparted to the fountainroll;

FIG. 3 is a similar view with the parts in the maximum drive position,that is to say the position in which the active stroke of theoscillation imparted to the fountain roll is at its maximum;

FIG. 4 is an end view taken at right angles to FIGS. 1 and 2 and insidethe machine casing, as indicated by the line 4-4, FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is an elevational view externally of the casing, showing thecontrol means;

FIG. 6 is a fragmental sectional view taken substantially on the line6-6 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 7 is a fragmental sectional view taken substantially on the line7-7 of FIG. 1.

In FIG. 2 the ink fountain roll is indicated at20. The driving anddriven parts of the overrunning clutch are carried in closed housingsshown at 2-1 and 22 respectively. The bottom of the ink fountain isconstituted by a blade 23 which bears against the roll 20, the supply ofink being contained in the fountain between the blade 23 and theperiphery of the roll 20. The roll 20 turns an increment at a time inthe direction of the arrow of FIG. 2. The oscillation of the rolldriving mechanism is effected by a link or arm 24, which is oscillatedback and forth through a variable stroke by mechanism describedhereinafter.

Worm wheel 25 is mounted on shaft 26, which turns through a limited areabout a fixed axis. It carries a radially disposed arm or link 27 whichmay be adjusted along with the worm wheel 25 from the position of FIG. 2to that of FIG. 3, and vice versa. The outer end of link 27 carries apivot 28 by which it is connected to link 29 in the shape of athree-cornered plate. When the link 27 is in the position of FIG. 2 theparts are disposed to impart zero drive to the link 24. In other words,the link 24 has no motion. On the other hand when the link 27 is in theposition of FIG. 3 the parts are disposed to impart maximum drive to thelink 24. During normal operation of the press the link 27 will occupysome position intermediate its positions in FIGS. 2 and 3, such that inkis supplied to the press at the desired rate.

A worm 30 meshes with worm wheel 25. It is mounted on shaft 31 that isjournalled in bearings carried by a longitudinally movable slide 32 thatis guided by top and bottom tracks 33 and 34 which are secured bysuitable fastenings onto the casing. Shaft 31 projects outwardly of thecasing where a wheel 40 is fastened thereto. By turning the wheel 40 theworm 30 is rotated in one direction or the other and the rotation of theworm is communicated to the worm wheel 25, by which means link 27 isadjusted to move link 27 bodily and provide the desired speed ofoperation to the inking mechanism, this speed being dependent upon therotational position of the worm, which in turn controls the linkage thatactuates the link 24 through a greater or lesser stroke. A stop 48limits the movement of the link 27 in a counterclockwise direction andtherefore constitutes the maximum ink feed setting.

In the event that it is desired to suddenly stop the feeding of inkwhile the operation of the press continues, the operator grasps the knob35 on the end of a lever 36 which is pivoted at 37, and moves itdownwardly from the full line position of FIG. 1 to the dotted lineposition of that figure. This depresses latch 38 down below a notch 39in the slide 32. Ordinarily, the forces applied to the linkage will tendto move the side 32 leftwardly. The operator may assist these forces bygrasping the wheel 40 and pulling it outwardly to the full line positionshown in FIG. 2. The worm 30 and the slide 32 in which it is mounted arethereby moved over to the left as in FIG. 2 as far as they will go, thatis until a link is encountered by a stop 6 carr'- d by a link 6. Therectilinear movement of worm 30 over to the left causes clockwiserotation of worm wheel 25 and the link 27 carried thereby to move thelink 29 and other portions of the drive to the FIG. 2 position. When thedrive is subsequently restored to its original operating setting, thewheel 40 is moved to the right to return the parts toward the FIG. 3position, this movement being terminated by a stop 58 engaged by theslide 32. Link 5 has a fixed pivot 49 and a movable pivot 50 that ispivotally connected with the upper extremity of a link 51 and the lowerend of the link 6. Link 51 is reciprocated continuously by a crank wheel53 rotated in a clockwise direction. Link 51 connected to crank wheel 53at 54 moves upwardly toward the left and downwardly toward the right.From the FIG. 3 position, link 51 next moves upwardly and swings links 5and 6 upwardly, link 5 swinging about its fixed pivot 49, and link 6moving substantially linearly with its pivot 55 moving about pivot 28 ofthe link 29.

Links 5 and 6 are of identically the same length between pivots. When itis desired to eliminate any motion of roll 20, the pivot 55 of link 6 iscaused to lie directly in line with and behind the fixed pivot 49, sothat when link 5 swings about its fixed pivot 49 link 6 will swing backand forth about the same axis from the dotted line position in FIG. 2 toa position directly behind the full line position of link 5 in thatfigure. The links 5 and 6 then swing idly about fixed center 49 withoutcommunicating any motion to links 29 and 24. This is the zero position.

On the other hand when ink is being fed normally the upper end of link 6is not in line with the fixed pivot 49 and the pivotal connection 55between link 6 and triangular link 29 will swing up and down,communicating motion to pivot 56 at the base end of link 24. Such motionwill, of course, be communicated to the driving part of the overrunningclutch.

When worm 30 is manually drawn suddenly to the left the worm will act asa rack, turning the worm wheel 25 clockwise to the FIG. 2 position,shifting triangular link 29 to the zero position of FIG. 2 andinterrupting the rotation of the ink fountain roll. The latch 38 in themeantime rides on the bottom surface of slide 32. When it is desired toresume feed, the operator pushes the worm and slide back to the rightuntil latch 38 snaps back into the notch 39 due to the effect of thecoil spring "s, whereby the adjustment of the ink feed is returned toprecisely the same point as obtained previously.

In order that the operator may be apprised of the setting of the inkfeed at any particular time, a bar 41 is locked to shaft 26 by asetscrew 42, FIG. 1. Bar 41 therefore is moved up or down as theadjustment is varied. The outer end of bar 41 carries a depending arm 43which supports a pointer 44 that travels over a scale 45 on the outsideof a plate 47. See FIG. 5. This scale indicates the different rates ofrelative ink feed effected by the adjustment. Arrows 46 indicates thedirection of rotation of the wheel 40 that is required to increase ordecrease the rate of feed. Below the scale 45, the plate 47 is providedwith a slot therethrough to receive the lever 36.

With the knob 35 in its upper position the latch 38 may rise under theeffect of spring s and engage the notch 39 whenever the slide 32 comesinto position to permit such engagement. At the same time the slide willencounter stop 58 Which is preferably adjustable. The fine adjustment ofthe feed is effected by rotating the shaft 31 and the worm 30, theendwise adjustment of the worm being employed merely for quicklythrowing off the ink feed or throwing it back to the previous rate offeed. Both adjustments can be effected while the press is in operation.

The linkage referred to above has one position, not used in the ordinaryfeeding of ink, called the zero position, in which the constant rotationof the crank wheel 53 causes link 51 to reciprocate up and down andlinks 5 and 6 to swing idly about a center through the axis of fixedpivot 49, but without communicating any motion to link 24. That positionis shown in FIG. 2.

The linkage also has variable positions for feeding ink at differentrates. In these positions the link 27 will rest anywhere between theposition of FIG. 2 and that of FIG. 3, in other words between theposition of zero ink feed and the position of maximum feed. Whenever inkis being fed the reciprocating link 51, instead of merely swinging link6 idly back and forth, communicates substantially endwise motion to link6, which motion is transmitted through triangular link 29, which maythen be in a position somewhat like that of FIG. 3, to link 24. Theposition of the parts for maximum drive is illustrated in FIG. 3.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In an ink fountain, a fountain roll, a one-way drive clutch having adriving portion and a driven portion the latter of which is mounted todrive the roll, a first link having one end mounted in a fixed pivot, asecond link pivoted to the other end of said first link, means pivotallyconnected to the end of said second link remote from its connection tothe first link and operatively connected to the driving portion of theclutch, said first and second links being of identical length betweentheir respective pivots, means for oscillating the first link through apredetermined angle about its axis, adjusting means connected to thesecond link for varying the relative angular relationship of the firstand second links about a center located at the point of connection ofsaid links, said first and second links being adjustable between a firstposition wherein the fixed pivot of the first link and the point ofconnection of the second link to the clutch coincide and a secondposition wherein said pivot and point are spaced apart duringoscillationof the first link, and means for rapidly moving the adjusting meansbodily to move the second link to said first position.

2. An ink fountain as defined in claim 1 wherein the rapid moving meansis constructed to maintain the adjustment between said links duringrapid movement thereof.

3. An ink fountain as defined in claim 2 including means for limitingthe movement of said second link beyond the first position when theadjusting means is rapidly moved to said first position.

4. An ink fountain comprising a frame, a fountain roll rotatable in saidframe, a one-way drive clutch having an output connection connected todrive said roll and an input connection, and a Variable throwoscillating mechanism connected to oscillate the input connection ofsaid clutch and including means for adjusting the throw of the mechanismbetween a maximum and Zero, the last said means comprising a firstmember movable in first and second directions to respectively vary thestroke to a maximum and to zero, said mechanism being inefiective tooscillate said input connection when the stroke is zero, a second memberhaving a first position relative to said frame, means supporting saidsecond member for movement in one direction relative to said frame fromsaid first position and for return to said first position, meansconnecting said first member to said second member to move said firstmember in its said first and second directions respectively on movementof said second member in its said one direction and return respectivelyand for adjustment of said first member in either its said first orsecond directions respectively with said second member in its said firstposition, said second member having sufficient movement in said onedirection from its said first position to actuate said first member inits said second direction from a maximum throw position to a zero throwposition, and means for selectively holding said second member in itssaid first position.

5. An ink fountain as defined in claim 4 wherein means is provided forlimiting the return of said second member to its said first position.

6. An ink fountain as defined in claim 4 wherein said first member is arotatable member and is rotated in opposite directions to respectivelyincrease and decrease the throw of the mechanism and wherein said secondmember comprises rotatable means for efiecting rotation of said firstmember and wherein said second member including said rotatable means istranslatable from its said first position and return to effectivelydisconnect and reconnect said drive mechanism to said fountain roll.

7. An ink fountain as defined in claim 6 wherein means is provided forlimiting the return of said second member to its said first position.

8. An ink fountain comprising a frame, a fountain roll located in saidframe, a one-way drive clutch having an output connection connected todrive said roll and an input connection, and a variable throwoscillating mechanism connected to oscillate the input connection ofsaid clutch and including a member angularly adjustable about an axis toadjust the throw of the mechanism between a maximum and zero toeffectively disconnect the drive mechanism from said clutch, a rotatableworm wheel connected to rotate said member about said axis, a wormenmeshed with said worm wheel, means supporting said worm for rotationand for axial movement relative to said frame while in mesh with saidwheel, said worm having a first position relative to said frame andbeing axially movable from said first position in one direction torotate said worm wheel in a direction to vary said throw to zero, andmeans for selectively holding said worm in said position and againstmovement therefrom.

9. An ink fountain as defined in claim 8 wherein said ink fountainincludes adjustable means preventing axial movement of said worm fromits said first position in a direction opposite to its said onedirection.

10. An ink fountain as defined in claim 8 wherein said drive mechanismurges said worm in its said one direction during normal operation ofsaid drive mechanism.

11. An ink fountain as defined in claim 8 wherein said worm is limitedin its axial movement in a direction opposite to said one direct-ion byan adjustable stop which engages said worm when said worm is in its saidpredetermined position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS408,392 Tucker Aug. 6, 1889 967,906 Haliwell Aug. 23, 1910 1,540,357Matteson June 2, 1925 1,868,383 Greenwood July 19, 1932 2,539,383Davidson Jan. 30, 1951 2,583,639 Faeber et al. Jan. 29, 1952 2,798,425George et al. July 9, 1957 2,891,473 Faeber et al. June 23, 19592,915,970 Mestre Dec. 8, 1959

